Ghost Leaves

Leaves past their expiration date! Looking rather papery and fragile

Pale and ghostly leaves

Ridged veins and midrib stand out

Looking skeletal

Loon Moon

Approaching full moon,

Haunting call punctures the night -

Common Loons are back!

Not My Camelot

We traveled home the day after the eclipse (as did many other eclipsers) - traffic was slow and heavy, but moving along, at least. We had planned to stop and visit the King Arthur Baking Company Store en route home. It would not only break up the journey, but give us an opportunity to find the elusive rye flour that I've been seeking in my local stores .

Lots of other people had the same idea, though, and the line for the bakery was extremely long; so long in fact, that we changed our minds about buying confectioneries to take home. 

Boy, did they have an array of flours and flour mixtures to choose from! Most were blends and mixes that made for convenience whilst baking. I usually mix my own blends, so wasn't looking for convenience, just basic raw ingredients.

The whole experience here rubbed me up the wrong way. First of all, it wasn't cheaper to buy regular all-purpose flour here - it cost the same as at my local Hannaford. I expected that shopping at their own outlet would have brought the costs down.

Secondly, I wasn't too impressed that the only package labeled 'rye flour' that I found was listed as a blend, with all-purpose flour listed as the first ingredient! Despite this cheaper mix, it was priced the same as the other pure, specialized flours. Okay, so I'm a little more picky than most, but I felt cheated being asked to pay specialized flour prices when regular flour was part of that blend. Not only that, I eventually found pure rye, labeled as 'Pumpernickel Flour,' but it was oh, so pricey - $15 for 3 lbs. It made me even more grouchy. When I got home, I also discovered that buying the same item online from Amazon would have cost 2/3 of the price ... in fact, we were ripped off! (Small things ... breathe ...)

So, while King Arthur might have appreciated Camelot, I didn't exactly find this to be my place of idyll and happiness.

Baking lessons at King Arthur campus

Altogether, the traffic slowness after this little detour added about an hour onto our journey home, which wasn't too bad. It was a hot 70°F day, and we had to use the AC to stay cool after that exasperating escapade!

 

Unless ...

Unless ... someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.” - The Lorax, Dr. Seuss.

It's up to us to take responsibility for what we have done to our planet by DOING something about it. Start by picking up litter that is not only unsightly, but some is hazardous to wildlife, soils, and streams.

April 22 was designated as Earth Day 54 years ago as a way to show support for environmental protection. It's a beautiful planet. It's the only one we have - let's cherish, and fix what we can. Start by planting a hardy native in your yard.